Except they did, in this case, deliberately let it go. ATF agents following the purchasers were told in no uncertain terms to STOP and not pursue.
They didn’t tell Mexican law enforcement.
They didn’t tell local law enforcement.
They didn’t tell anyone but other Feds.
The ATF was (mostly) screaming that this operation was going to get people killed and it was a bad idea. DOJ told them to shut up.
We have also recently been running guns to Honduras, a place we basically have never had illicit gun trade with before now.
This was a win/win for the Marxist brothers in the WH. They were able to destabilize democracies, generate chaos, prove the need for gun control laws, drive honest gun dealers out of business, arm criminal insurgents and best of all make of government law enforcement a personal vendetta. Ain’t it great.
Not to mention a country where Obama wants the government overthrown.